America in the 1970’s was a time of immense social upheaval, building on the progressive movements and protests at the end of the 60’s. LGBT+ people fought to build solidarity with other oppressed groups and workers who faced exploitation. One example was the 20-year boycott of Coors Beer, which found great success in San Francisco in the early 1970’s, where gay rights activist Harvey Milk and the Bay Area Gay Liberation group organised solidarity with Teamsters. Black and Latino activists had been boycotting Coors for several years in protest at the company’s refusal to implement affirmative action policies. LGBT+ activists got involved to support beer delivery drivers in the Teamsters union, striking to extend their contracts. Almost every gay bar in San Francisco supported the boycott and Coors’s profits dropped dramatically in California. In exchange, the union came to support openly gay workers becoming drivers. The boycott extended into a two-decade battle when Coors launched a union busting campaign at its brewery a few years later. LGBT+ people continued their support throughout and found new reasons to boycott when it emerged that Coors forced their workers to undertake lie detector tests, asking questions about their sexuality.
